Epiphany 5 – 6 February 2022 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 5^thChapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 1 – 11:

 

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, ² and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to land,  they left everything and followed him.

 

 

    Nobody likes being told how to do their job! Nobody enjoys someone telling them how they’re not doing their job correctly, especially when the person doing all the talking and criticising knows very little about the job they so arrogantly criticise. Even when the advice is actually coming from someone who may have experience in that particular job and actually knows what they’re talking about, we can still feel deflated. When you think about it, the deflating, annoying advice doesn’t even have to be career or vocation-specific. Being told how to do the “little things “in life can sometimes be more irritating and trying than anything else. “Here’s how you should load the dishwasher. You’re mowing the lawn the wrong way. This is the best way to wash clothes. That’s not the best way to paint”. The fact is that it’s often these little “constructive criticisms” that cause the greatest tension and create the biggest problems. 

 

    Now, with this in mind, let’s put ourselves in Simon Peter’s shoes for a moment. Here was a man who made his living and supported his family as a fisherman. I know quite a few professional fishermen and they are “all weather” hard, tough men who know how to do their job. They brave the elements, know the tides and weather, and often confront all sorts of danger to eke out a living.  I’ve been fishing around creeks and oceans since I was a little kid, but that certainly does not qualify me to give professional fishermen advice. If someone who had never wet a line or net in their life came to professional fishermen with challenging advice, they may well find themselves under the threat of physical danger. Yet, Jesus has the nerve to tell a boatload of fishermen—tired professional fishermen who had already fished all night long and didn’t catch a thing—how to do their job. “Put out to deep waters and let down your nets for a catch.” 

 

    The fact that a “land-loving” carpenter’s son is giving professional fishermen advice is enough in itself. However, one must also consider the very advice that Jesus was giving. Not being a ‘Middle Eastern’ professional fishermen ourselves, we tend to miss the sheer foolishness of Christ’s words. Put out into deep water and let down your nets? That’s not how they did it! The type of fishing these men engaged in with the nets was performed in relatively shallow water. This wasn’t a deep-sea sort of venture. This wasn’t like the commercial fishing we see nowadays where crews put out and recover miles of deep-sea nets with heavy machinery. Their tackle and their equipment was made for close-to-shore fishing. If you wanted to catch fish as a first-century fisherman, you tried to cast your nets where the most fish would be, which is typically in shallower, warmer water at night, when the fish are most active. 

 

    Think about that for a moment! Jesus was telling these professionals to do the exact opposite of what everyone else has always done. Jesus is telling these professionals to do something completely outside the norm! “Put out into the deep water in the middle of the day and cast your shallow-fishing nets out for a catch.”…….. Yet, here’s the thing. They did it!! You don’t hear Simon Peter say, “No offence, Jesus, but I’m the captain of this ship. I know fishing. I’ve been fishing this lake since I was old enough to walk, and I don’t think this is a good idea. We don’t have the right equipment. We’re not in the best spot. We’re not out at the right time of the day. I know this lake better than you do.” You don’t hear any of that.  Instead, we simply hear, “Master, we’ve toiled all night and didn’t catch a thing! But because You say so, I will let down the nets.” I think we often miss just how profound this statement of faith really is, so profound, in fact, that eminent theologians over the ages have called this a greater miracle than the miraculous catch of fish itself. 

 

    You see, we have a distinct advantage that Simon Peter and the rest of the disciples didn’t have. We have the gift of hindsight. We know how the story ends. The story, however, was still being written with these men. They didn’t know or understand that Jesus was preparing them to do the work of evangelism and outreach by teaching them a very important lesson through something as simple as fishing. How could they know? They weren’t even called yet to be His apostles. They were just ordinary, everyday fishermen. They couldn’t see the future. They couldn’t know that Christ’s lesson would have great meaning and profound symbolism until well after all this had transpired and they could look back and say, “Oh...it all makes so much sense now!” 

 

    Does this make sense to us? In the challenges and confusion of our lives the meaning and symbolism of Jesus’ lesson as written in our text is a message from which we can derive a source of comfort and reassurance; so what is it that Jesus is telling us. 

Well...it should come as no surprise that the image of the church—the image of God’s people—has always been that of a boat or a ship, going all the way back to Noah, but especially made clear in this particular Gospel lesson. Traditionally the pew seating area of a church, from the front door to the Alter or Chancel (where applicable in cathedrals) is called the ‘Nave’ derived from the Latin ‘Navis or ship’.

 

    And then there is the nets? In Christian Parishes everywhere including here in the Sarina Anglican Parish, we have what could be termed as “net- fishing events” – community events like Mainly Music, religious education in schools, aged care services and  Children’s services etc. These are mission related events to attract people to our churches and congregations in the hope that they get ‘caught up in our evangelistic nets’. However, those are human nets that are being cast, and that’s how we endeavour to be a successful fisherman of people. As good and effective those activities are, they aren’t the nets that Jesus was teaching about. That’s not the catch Christ is looking to teach us about in this case. 

 

    The nets in this lesson have always been understood to symbolise God’s means of grace — His Word and His Sacraments. That’s what Christ was teaching His future apostles. That’s what Christ still teaches us today. He is saying “I know it sounds foolish. I know that the rest of the world says different. They have better tackle, better equipment, better methods, and different spots to fish, all in the name of worldly success. That’s not My way. That’s not My will. I give you all you need to make disciples of all nations. Listen to Me. Use what I give you. Cast those simple nets of Law and Gospel; those simple nets of Word and Sacrament out into all the world when and where I command—even into those seemingly senseless, most unproductive spots, and let Me provide.” 

 

    The fact is that by many worldly standards, doing what we do here seems as foolish as casting out shallow fishing nets in the middle of the day in the deepest, coldest water. Yet, we do it. Why? “Because You say so, Lord. Because of Your Word and command, we fish Your way.” This has been our modus operandi, and our Lord has richly provided! We often feel that we don’t have much to give here. We don’t have what everyone else has. However, as baptised, Spirit filled Christians, we are called to freely give all that Christ gives. In our love, peace for and our forgiveness of each other, we give Christ. In the Word from the pulpit and our Bibles we are given His full counsel—His Law, which says that each and every one of us are sinful and deserve nothing but death and damnation, followed by His Gospel message of grace and salvation. In public and private confession and absolution we are given the full gift of His life-giving Gospel, in which our Lord declares that each and every one of us are completely redeemed and forgiven because of His all-atoning death and resurrection. In the Holy Sacrament of the Alter we are given His very body and blood, not because we’ve earned it, but because our Lord says, “take and eat for the forgiveness of all your sins.” 

 

    It is because of these humble, yet powerful, life-giving gifts of Christ that we can be assured by the simple Gospel proclamation that we are God’s greatest catch. He loved us so much that He willingly ransomed His own Son’s life for ours. It is this Gospel net which He used, through the working of His Holy Spirit, to catch Simon Peter, enabling him to respond to Christ’s outlandish command in unquestioning and obedient faith. It is the same Gospel net that He used to bring us into the life and salvation of His ark—the Church, and with the same Gospel net He continues to use to strengthen us and keep us in the ark of all believers. It is with this same holy net of Gospel that He arms and equips us in our daily vocations as baptised children of God to be faithful fishers of mankind. 

 

    May God grant us the humble, peaceful obedience of unquestioning, saving faith so that we, too, can confidently cast out His Gospel net, when and where He calls us to do so in our daily lives. “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. Do not be afraid, for I am with you always, even to the very end of the age. Let go, let down My nets, and let Me work through you.” –Like Peter we can only reply “at your word I will let down the nets” Amen.

 

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

 

Epiphany 4 – 30 January 2022 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 4^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 14 – 30:

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

¹⁶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And there were many lepers^[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But passing through their midst, he went away.

So far, it has been a happy Epiphany season.  The magi worshiped the Christ-child.  John the Baptist and his followers witnessed an epiphany of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at Jesus’ baptism with the Son in the water, the Spirit descended as a dove, and the Father proclaimed Jesus as His Beloved Son.  Jesus revealed Himself as He transformed water into wine.  So far, Epiphany has been about worshippers, followers, and believers.

 

Today is different.  Today, we hear that Jesus’ Epiphany angered the people of Nazareth so much that they tried to throw Him over a cliff to His death.  We learn that while some people rejoice in God’s epiphany, others react in anger and extreme prejudice.

 

Jesus began teaching in the synagogues of Galilee and the quality of His teaching caused the report of His teaching to spread.  Naturally, when He returned to His hometown of Nazareth, the people expected Him to teach in their synagogue as well.

 

The message began well enough.  As Jesus rose to read, the attendant handed Him the roll of Isaiah.  It was open to the reading for the day.  This reading was a Gospel message based on the Year of the Lord which was also known as the Year of Jubilee.

 

The Year of Jubilee was a financial reset that God commanded every fifty years.  ^{(Leviticus 25:10, 13, 39-41)} “¹⁰And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.  ¹³“In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property.  ³⁹ “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: ⁴⁰ he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. ⁴¹ Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers”. This was a big deal.  All the land reverted to its original owners and all the Hebrew slaves went free.

 

Isaiah stated that God was preparing a Year of the Lord that would be like the Year of Jubilee.  In this case, the Lord would free people from sin.

 

If you examine the context of these words in Isaiah, you will notice that even though Isaiah ministered over 700 years before Jesus was even born, He still followed Jesus’ instructions to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  Isaiah gave an account of the many sins of Israel, and he called them to repent.  Then, in chapter 60, Isaiah began a proclamation of forgiveness.  The captives and the prisoners in this prophecy are not just the captives and prisoners of the political enemies of Israel, but they are also the captives and prisoners of sin.  So the words that Jesus read that day were from the middle of that great proclamation of the forgiveness of sin that Isaiah proclaimed to all of Israel.

 

^{(Luke 4:20–21}) “[Jesus] rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Basically, Jesus pointed to Himself as the fulfillment of this prophecy of forgiveness.  Jesus is the bearer of good news.  Jesus is the binder of the broken heart.  Jesus is the liberator of the captive.  Jesus is the opener of the prison.  Jesus is the bringer of the Year of Jubilee.  Jesus identified Himself as the forgiveness that Isaiah, by the power of the Holy Spirit, spoke of in his message to Israel.  Jesus identified Himself as the Kingdom of God come down to earth to save people from sin.

 

Those who heard these words responded in amazed confusion.  ^{(Luke 4:22)} “All spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth”. All their lives they had heard rabbis speak of the one who would come and set the captives free.  Now, this Jesus fellow walks in and says, “I am the fulfillment of this prophecy.  I am here to set you free.”  The crowd is in shock.  At first, Jesus’ teaching style impressed them, but then they became suspicious.

 

And they said, ^{(Luke 4:22)}  “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Can’t you just imagine someone saying, “My wife used to babysit him.”  OR “I remember when he and his father Joseph used to build houses together.”  “He’s just a local kid.  Who does he think he is saying that he is the fulfillment of prophecy?”

 

Jesus knew what they were thinking and He called them on it.  He said, ^{(Luke 4:24)}  “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” He then gave them the examples of Elijah and Elisha.  Elijah stayed with a Gentile widow during a great famine.  Elisha healed a general of the Gentile Syrians who were the sworn enemies of Israel.  In both cases Israel rejected the prophets of God, and in both cases God sent His prophets to bless Gentiles.

 

The men of Nazareth very quickly followed the examples of their ancestors.  Instead of recognising their own hardness of heart and repenting, they acted to kill Jesus.  That is when they tried to throw Him from the cliff.

 

While Jesus came into this world to die, He came to die at a specific time and a specific place.  Nazareth was not the place, nor was this the time.  ^{(Luke 4:30)} “But passing through their midst, he went away”. 

Those last three words, he went away, are very sad.  Jesus had given an epiphany to the people of Nazareth and they rejected it.  He offered salvation and freedom from sin to them and they tried to throw Him over a cliff.

 

Humanity has a sad, sad history of rebellion against God’s grace.  The Old Testament is full of rebellion … some of which was utterly obscene.

 

One of the saddest passages of the Old Testament involves the prophet Ezekiel.  The Lord allowed the Babylonians to carry him into exile, but then the Holy Spirit gave him a vision of the temple.  In this vision, God Himself gave Ezekiel a tour of the abominations that Israel practiced within the very temple courts … worship of animals, the sun, the return of spring, and so forth for chapter after chapter.

 

Eventually, God stood on the threshold to the temple.  Then God left the temple and ascended to the mountains surrounding Jerusalem.  Then the Lord left Jerusalem altogether.  The people had rejected God’s care for them.  Therefore, God left.  Jerusalem was without protection.  It would not be long until Babylon would return once again to destroy Jerusalem and the temple.

 

In more modern times, we have Dr Martin Luther’s warning to the councilmen of the cities of Germany.  “You should know that God’s word and grace is like a passing shower of rain which does not return where it has once been. It has been with the Jews, but when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have nothing. Paul brought it to the Greeks; but again when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have the Turk. Rome and the Latins also had it; but when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have the pope. And you Germans need not think that you will have it forever, for ingratitude and contempt will not make it stay. Therefore, seize it and hold it fast, whoever can; for lazy hands are bound to have a lean year”.

 

The most destructive theme in history is the theme of the rejection of God’s salvation.  For after a time of rejection, God will leave.  Will you reject His gifts until He leaves you?  May this never be!

 

The Year of Jubilee is an object lesson in the history of the nation of Israel.  The prophet Isaiah used it to point to Jesus.  Just as Israel was to free the slaves during the Jubilee, so also Jesus came to free the slaves.  In His case, He came to free those who were slaves to sin.  He did this by letting Roman soldiers nail Him to a cross.  As He hung on that cross, He earned the freedom of the Jubilee Year for the sins of all mankind.

 

Jesus wants to give us the gifts that He purchased for us with His holy life, His suffering, and His death.  He wants to give the gifts that He authenticated with His resurrection from the dead.  He wants to tell us how His death on the cross has freed us from our captivity, opened our eyes to His salvation, and liberated us from sin’s oppression.

 

Jesus truly is the fulfillment of God’s promises.  He is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah.  He has preached the Good News of the Kingdom of God.  He has shown us the light of His salvation.  With His life, suffering, and death on the cross, He has freed those oppressed by sin.  With His resurrection, He offers the Lord’s favour to us.  He gives these things to us through the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith.  God has promised all these things to us and today they are fulfilled in your hearing.  Amen.

 

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

 

Epiphany 3 – 23 January 2022 - Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

 

The text for this meditation is written in the 8^th Chapter of the Old Testament Book of Nehemiah: Verses 1 – 10:

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. ³ And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴ And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. ⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

⁹ And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

 

 

The Old Testament Reading for today takes us to a remarkable and beautiful event. All the people of God are assembled and attentive as they hear read to them (The Torah of Moses or Pentateuch) the first five books of Moses of the Holy Bible (Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy). Note: that whilst we see it as five books, the Torah was in fact considered the first book of the Hebrew Bible. Listen again and hear about this happy and holy occasion:

^{(v 6)} Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground”. 

 

How do we explain this spontaneous delight in Moses’ words? How could the reading of the first book of the sacred Scriptures bring immediate worship and confession of the Lord as God?

 

Can you imagine such a reaction in our day? When the Scriptures are read in public or in worship, how do people in our day respond? Is it with the same joy and reverence? Indeed, what is our response?

 

Let me suggest that sacred Scripture should be as captivating and exciting as it was for Ezra’s audience. Why? Because the content of Scripture is so wonderful and so true. Here, God tells us how things really are, and through his self-disclosure, all of humanity is invited into a rich relationship with him.

 

For example, hear Moses’ words make the foundational and beautiful point. Reflect as you hear portions of the beginning of Moses’ Torah—the account of creation.

^{(Gen 1:1)} “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. 

^{(Gen 1:16–17).} God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. 

^{(Gen 1:26)} Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

^{(Gen 1:31)} God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 

 

We can be assured of the very presence of God in the Book of Moses, because in contrast to this, the prevailing epics in the cultures that surrounded Moses—Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Palestine, … described creation in a very different way. In their human thinking, they viewed the sun, the moon, the stars, the sea, and a host of animals as gods who controlled events on earth.

In their epics, human beings were simply not significant. The gods determined the course of history, and men and women would simply have to suffer the consequences of their supposed preferences.

 

As we’ve seen, Moses begins his book with a very different claim: that man and woman are the apex of creation—the very crown of God’s creative labours — not mere accidental furniture to be moved about by whim and chance. Moses composes an infinitely beautiful description of God’s loving care in shaping all of creation for the benefit of man and woman. Now the sun and the moon are good forces from God’s hand to serve humanity with alternating light and darkness. As created elements of the universe, how could they be gods who dominate creation and require the sacrifice of human beings in homage to their power?

 

It is written that God took special care in the formation of Adam and Eve. They alone would be made in his image. God would form Adam from the dust of the ground like a potter shaping his pot. God would breathe into Adam the very breath of life and make him a living soul.

^{(Gen 2:7)} “The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature”. 

 

In similar attentive fashion, Eve would be formed from the rib of Adam into a perfect companion.

^{(Gen 2:21–22)} So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 

What wonderful words of reassurance for Ezra’s audience! What a wonderful word for us! All people are God’s unique creation.

 

Through the power of sin, Satan who seduced mankind into sinning initially, we currently live in a culture where many have re-mythologized or re-invented a false learning about the sun and moon and galaxies. Powerful and prestigious voices suggest that human beings are simply accidents. Many in our day are convinced that all of us will simply be absorbed into the cold dark cosmos and be no more. In all truth the repugnant words and images coming to us in vivid colour on TV and social media screens, the inconceivable conflict on matters of politics, health, education, human rights, personal and national relationships etc. puts us and our hope for the future in pretty much the same state of mind as those downtrodden, depressed people of God returning home from exile. We thirst for hope, we are at risk of falling into helpless despair.

 

In such a context, how beautiful Moses’ words are! They are reason to be attentive and full of joy.

So, with the people of Ezra’s time, it is our calling as Christians to say “Amen!” and to worship God for how wonderfully he has made us. Like the people of Jerusalem in our Old Testament reading, we are called to live before him and in faith tend the world that he created for us.

 

Ezra’s people, hearing God’s Word read to them that day, also learned again that God had not abandoned them, his chosen nation. Even though Adam and Eve had turned away from God into self-absorption with the will to become like God, even though by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they had chosen not to be his innocent creatures in a perfect and beautiful world, God still had not left them. In generation after generation, God had invited the people to return to life before and with him.

 

In the Book of Genesis Ezra’s audience heard afresh about the promise of the woman’s Seed who would reverse the curse and consequences of Adam and Eve’s rebellion. They heard how that promise continued to be God’s gracious plan of deliverance through Seth, through Shem, through Abram, and through Judah.

In the Book of Exodus. The people heard again how God had delivered their ancestors from Egyptian captivity and caused his glory to dwell with them in the tabernacle.  And the Book of Leviticus tells us that the sacrificial system was instituted with its attendant priesthood to provide forgiveness for the people’s failings and sins.

Ezra’s people were also privileged to hear Moses’ invitation at the very end of his book to return to God.

 

It is well summarised in ^{(Deut 30:15–16)} “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. ¹⁶ If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it”.

 

The people could see how God had indeed given them the land just as he had promised in the Book of Joshua. How meaningful that promise was for them these centuries later. These despairing and depressed people had spent the past 70 years in exile in Babylon dreaming of one day returning to the past glory of their beloved Jerusalem only to find it a shadow of its past glory. But in the public reading of the Holy Scriptures by Ezra the Word of God spoke hope and enthusiasm into their hearts and minds. In those sacred words was the power to set them on the path to rebuild their city and regenerate their lives, and their relationship with God.

 

Their feelings are captured in ^{(Ps 126: 1-3)} “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad”.

 

So, we can see afresh what good news came through the reading of Moses’ Torah—Moses’ book. Again, the psalmists capture the feelings of Ezra’s faithful hearers toward this good word from the Lord in ^{(Ps 19:7–10)} “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb”.

 

Indeed, as Ezra’s people listened and worshiped, they were surrounded by gracious signs of God’s abiding presence with them: the second temple of Zion’s was built, and the walls of Jerusalem being rebuilt.

God had brought his children home after decades of exile! What a story! What a message! What wonderful and beautiful truth!

 

And the great thing for you and for me is that we, too, are a part of this true and wonderful story!

Our situation is not unlike theirs. We live in a culture that devalues and reduces human significance. Some of our most prestigious universities are dominated by those who regard human beings as but an accident in the aimless evolutionary process of the cosmos. The quest for power, wealth and influence that prevails nationally as well as internationally corrodes our sense of personal identity

In such a context, you and I have every reason to say “Amen! Amen!” to Moses’ Torah—to Moses’ words.

 

Yes, we have every reason to join Ezra’s congregation in worshiping the true God, who not only created us in a wondrous fashion but now also comes to each of us in mercy and love—in the definitive fulfilment of all his promises. He comes in the gift of his very Son, Jesus, the woman’s Seed promised ever since Adam and Eve’s sin.

 

The brilliance of this reality is unveiled in the Epiphany season, in which the light of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension drives out the darkness—the darkness that reduces human beings to mere material, accidental status.

^{(John 8:12)} “Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

 

Jesus, the Second Adam, fully displayed the wonder and beauty of human nature by becoming a man. As the Second Adam, he delighted in doing his Father’s will. His life displayed a profound affection and love for every human being as he invited each one of us to repentance and life with God.

 

(Lk 15:10) “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents”

Reflect with me on that passage for one last moment. God is so invested in us and in seeking each of us in Christ that not a single one of us, not a single human being, should feel unloved or insignificant. Our repentance — our turning to God — causes rejoicing among the angels.

 

Moses’ words thrilled and restored the people in Ezra’s day. They thrill and restore us too, for they point us to God’s saving gift of himself in his Son. The Sacred Scriptures of Christ bring us to delight in God into eternity. Friends in Christ, in faith there always is hope, and our hope is most assuredly in the name of the Lord. Amen

 

The love and peace of our Great triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.  

Epiphany 2 – 16 January 2022 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 2^nd Chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses 1–11:

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. ³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim”. ⁸ And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. ⁹ When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Once again we heard a very familiar reading from the Gospel according to St. John … Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana in Galilee.  Jesus, His mother, and His disciples had an invitation to this wedding, and they came to help the couple celebrate the beginning of their life together as husband and wife.

 

Weddings in that culture were major celebrations that often lasted an entire week.  The host of the wedding, usually the groom or the groom’s family, supplied food and drink for the guests.  Running out of food or drink was a major embarrassment.

 

Mary noticed that the family had run out of wine.  We don’t really know how Mary became aware of this, but she told Jesus about it.  The context indicates that Mary hoped Jesus would deal with the problem, and that she would let Him work out the details.  Mary’s request does not indicate that Mary expected a miracle of any kind.

 

Mary must have been helping with the wedding because after she left Jesus she said to the servants, ^{(John 2:5)}“Do whatever he tells you.” Here Mary is an example of faith.  She had no idea what Jesus was about to do, but whatever it was, she trusted it to be the right thing.  Did you know that this is the last direct quotation from Mary in the Bible? A command to the servants, also compelling advice to us.  

 

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each with the capacity of approximately 110 litres. Jesus said to the servants, ^{(John 2:6–7)} “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.” Note that this around 660 litres of water.  The servants went about the task of drawing the water from a well by hand.  

 

Then Jesus said to them, ^{(John 2:8)} “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. Note that Jesus did not tell the servants that the water had become wine.  He simply instructed them to take some to the master of the feast.

When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ^{(John 2:9–10)} “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Somewhere in the process of filling the jars and taking a sample of the water to the master of the feast, the water became wine.  It wasn’t just any wine either.  The master of the feast was surprised that the groom had waited so long to serve the good wine.

 

So here, Jesus has made a nice gesture to help some friends avoid an embarrassing situation.  I mean that’s good, but why did the Holy Spirit inspire John to include this event in His account of the Gospel?  It’s a fun story. it was great for the wine drinkers.  But, in the grand scheme of eternity, why is it important?

 

Well, scripture interprets scripture.  John himself tells us of the goal of his Gospel at the end of chapter 20.  ^{(John 20:30–31)} “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. Here John reveals the objective of the signs in his account of the Gospel.  The signs are there in order to make the case that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  For John knows that faith in Jesus receives eternal life.

 

The Holy Spirit inspired John to make the point that all of Jesus’ signs point to Jesus as the anointed one, the Son of God.  He is the anointed one who takes away the sin of the world.  He is the anointed One who takes our sin to the cross and endures the punishment our sins deserve.  He is the anointed One who will give us the greatest sign … the sign of the empty tomb of our risen Saviour.

 

The Holy Spirit inspired John to begin the trail of signs pointing to Jesus with the sign of Jesus changing the water into wine.  John himself tells us that this is the point of this account at the end of today’s reading from the Gospel.  He wrote, ^{(John 2:11)} “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” 

 

John wants us to understand that this miracle is not just a gesture to help some friends avoid an embarrassing situation.  John informs us that this was Jesus’ first sign … the first certification that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  These signs point to the spiritual truth of the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One who took on our flesh, lived among us, and experienced everything that we experience.  They reveal Jesus, who, while fully human and like us in every way, except without sin, is also fully God. These miracles are signs that reveal Jesus for who he really is, namely, the Word made flesh, who created all things and who upholds all things in himself.  They reveal the glory of the one and only Son of God, Jesus Christ.  This sign is the first of a trail of signs that will lead to the ultimate sign of the empty tomb of the risen Lord.

 

Jesus has not only chosen to reveal Himself to those first disciples using signs, but He has also chosen to reveal Himself to us and to come to us, in signs in which his Word resides.  Jesus has chosen to reveal Himself in the signs of the proclaimed word, the word combined with water in Holy Baptism, and the word combined with bread and wine in the Holy Meal.  He has given these signs to us as gifts.  In these miracles, he is revealed to us.  In the Sacraments, Jesus, who revealed at Cana that he is Lord of the elements, continues to reveal himself as Lord over all creation.

 

In the waters of Baptism, Jesus makes us his own.  By His suffering and death on the cross, He has earned the forgiveness of sins.  Then by His promise and command, He joins that forgiveness to ordinary water.  By His promise and command, baptism delivers the forgiveness of sins from the cross to you.  For it is written, ^{(1 Pet 3:21)} “Baptism . . . now saves you”. Baptism is a ^{(Titus 3:5)} “washing of regeneration”. Baptism is a re-creation.  We were dead in sin, but Baptism re-creates us in newness of life in Christ Jesus.

 

In the same manner, the Lord’s Supper is a sign of our redemption in Jesus Christ.  Is it not written in ^{(1 John 1:7)} “that the blood of Jesus cleanses you from sin”?  The miracle of Jesus’ true body and true blood under the elements of bread and wine reveals the mystery of our salvation in a blessed and holy sacramental union with Jesus.  Jesus gives His body and His blood into our mouths and so grants us the forgiveness of sins one mouth at a time.

 

We celebrate the fact that as a baptised child of God we have the blessings that Jesus promises in baptism: forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.  Through the blessed presence of the Holy Spirit gifted to us in Holy Baptism we have the faith to come to the table and receive the body and blood of Jesus for our lasting good.  Although no one can understand how Jesus joins Himself to the bread and the wine, we trust His promises … the promise that as we eat the bread, we receive His body broken for us … the promise that as we drink the wine, we receive His blood shed for us … the promise that His body and blood give us forgiveness, life, and salvation.  Through faith, we can believe the promise that this body and blood will strengthen us in both body and soul until the day comes when we will meet the one who turned water into wine, and we shall see Him face-to face.

 

At the wedding celebration in Cana, our Lord revealed who he is, to servants, disciples, to us and to the world.  In “this, the first of his signs,” Jesus points us to the restoration of creation that he would accomplish on the great third day, Easter morning.  Through his first miracle, indeed, through all his miracles, Jesus manifested his glory and revealed to us a foretaste of what was to come: the restoration of our life in our God as it is meant to be.

 

Jesus has given signs to us.  At Cana, at Calvary, at the empty tomb, in the font, and on the altar, Jesus gives us signs of his glory.  In the font, and on the altar, our Lord has given us signs of the renewed creation won for us on the cross at Calvary.  Here Jesus reveals that his life and death are ours.  Jesus reveals that his body was given for us and his blood was shed for us for the remission of our sins.  Jesus reveals to us his glory, the glory of his death for our righteousness.  This Divine Service is His wedding party given for us.  He is the groom, the wine steward, and the wine.  We are the bride and the honoured guest.

 

Jesus has given all these signs to us so that we may believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and that we might have life by believing in His name.  Amen

 

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen